Cheryl Bath, Wisconsin asks in a callout question: During covid I was surprised to learn how many foreign workers, especially from Mexico, worked in the Wisconsin farm fields. And now, I was more surprised to learn that these workers would also be deported and not allowed to work any longer at these fields even though it was all legal with paperwork. These foreign workers paid into the federal government taxes and social security system which was a plus for U.S. social security. I’ve been wondering how these Wisconsin farms are dealing with the absence of these workers seeing how it is harvesting time right now. Propublica had a article a year or so ago about the effects of this immigration sweep on the workers and the farms but that was still when the workers were still here. I can’t find any follow up or information on this anywhere. I think the farmers really feel left out to deal with this on their own and no one is asking questions. Maybe you can?
Maanvi: Cattle ranchers and dairy farmers have indeed been pushing for immigration reform, not only recently, but for years – because the industry relies so heavily on immigrant labor. In September, the the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Kansas Livestock Association, and Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association issued a joint warning that ICE operations were threatening their industy, and would have “a massive chilling effect on the legal, documented, skilled workers that put beef on the table and keep the supply chain moving”. I recently spoke with Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association, who said that the US cattle herd has shrunk to its lowest numbers in 75 years – and ranchers are struggling to keep up with consumer demand. Farms aren’t able to expand operations without immigrant labor – and Teagarden said that this could mean that US consumers will increasingly be eating imported beef. He also noticed that ICE crackdowns are having a systemic impact on agriculture – it’s not only dairy or cattle industry workers who are impacted, but also farmworkers who grow the feed for cows, and immigrant workers who process the dairy and meat before it gets to grocery stores. Two-thirds of farm workers are non-citizen immigrants. As the administration targets these workers, food producers could struggle to keep up operations, and prices are expected to increase steeply, according to a study by the thinktank Fwd.us.
José: Many people caught up in the Trump administration’s dragnet are workers in the US — they pay taxes and contribute to Social Security, while receiving almost none of the benefits. The process to gain asylum or remain in the US can be long and arduous — oftentimes, as undocumented people go through the process, they will receive work permits, Social Security numbers and, in certain states, driver’s licenses. Now, many people with those legal work permits have been arrested by federal immigration officials and sit in detention centers, waiting for their immigration cases to proceed.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) called a controversial political ad run by Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R) “shameful,” saying she thinks it will hurt Republicans up and down the ballot in Ohio. “This ad is going to go down as the most shameful, disgusting, offensive ad this election season,” Mace told CNN’s Jake Tapper on…
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) called a controversial political ad run by Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R) “shameful,” saying she thinks it will hurt Republicans up and down the ballot in Ohio. “This ad is going to go down as the most shameful, disgusting, offensive ad this election season,” Mace told CNN’s Jake Tapper on…
One drone launched another drone, which then shot down a third. All three were unmanned, and all at sea off Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Navy has destroyed a Russian Shahed attack drone with a Sting interceptor launched from the Sargan 3000 unmanned surface vessel, the Navy said, showing sailors adapting to new aerial threats with sea-launched interceptors.
Russian Shaheds threaten Ukraine’s ports, coastline and the ships that approach them, so meeting those drones out at sea, before they reach land, matters for the whole southern defense.
A Ukrainian Navy sea drone, the Sargan 3000, destroyed a Russian Shahed kamikaze drone with a Sting interceptor drone
Ukrainian troops continue to adapt to new threats to protect civilians and infrastructure Ukrainian Navy pic.twitter.com/kXvnqaebAw
The Sting is built to destroy Russian kamikaze drones such as the Shahed, Geran and Lancet, as well as reconnaissance drones, with quick deployment, a short training course and a top speed of 280 km/h, its producer, Wild Hornets, says.
The interceptor that has become Ukraine’s Shahed-killer
The Sting has earned its place at the front. The Ukrainian FPV interceptor has proven highly effective in combat, with a typical hit rate of 80 to 90% depending on the unit, and on some days reaching 100 percent, one launch for one kill.
It is currently Ukraine’s most productive Shahed interceptor, according to the Wild Hornets, having destroyed more than 3,000 drones in its first seven months of use. Mounting it on a sea platform extends that record from land into the Black Sea.
A drone boat that keeps finding new ways to kill
The Sargan 3000 has become a multi-purpose hunter. In July, Ukrainian naval personnel used a Sargan 3000 to sink a Russian second-rank border patrol ship.
In October, the same drone boat shot down a Russian Shahed with a turret-mounted machine gun over the Black Sea. Ukraine’s Navy took the Sargan 3000 into service in April 2026, and the drone boat has a combat radius of up to 1,600 kilometers, letting it clear the sky far from shore without putting a sailor in range.
Steve Kornacki, NBC News’s chief data analyst, on Wednesday morning said there is growing indication that Minnesota’s tight Senate race could swing in the GOP’s favor in the November election. “There does seem to be a tide within the state that’s working against Democrats,” Kornacki said on the “Today” show. The Democratic nominee, Minnesota Lt.…
Steve Kornacki, NBC News’s chief data analyst, on Wednesday morning said there is growing indication that Minnesota’s tight Senate race could swing in the GOP’s favor in the November election. “There does seem to be a tide within the state that’s working against Democrats,” Kornacki said on the “Today” show. The Democratic nominee, Minnesota Lt.…
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and his Democratic opponent Adam Hamilton are set to square off in their second and final debate Wednesday night. The debate is hosted by Nexstar Media Group affiliate WDAF. Nexstar also owns The Hill. Marshall is fighting for his political life in a race that wasn’t expected to be close just months ago.…
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and his Democratic opponent Adam Hamilton are set to square off in their second and final debate Wednesday night. The debate is hosted by Nexstar Media Group affiliate WDAF. Nexstar also owns The Hill. Marshall is fighting for his political life in a race that wasn’t expected to be close just months ago.…
House prices are falling across every capital city for the first time in 15 years and the second time on record, according to figures from Domain’s September Quarter 2026 House Price report.
House prices in Sydney are at a two-year low after falling 4.7% in the September quarter, to $1.66m.
Reba McEntire, Kristen Bell, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood and Ella Langley are among the performers in the two-hour TV special airing live from Nashville.
Stringing wire in the open is one of the deadliest jobs at the front, and Ukraine is handing it to a robot. Ukraine’s Ground Forces have shown a ground robotic vehicle from the 16th Separate Support Brigade laying wire obstacles in open terrain, letting combat engineers do the dangerous work remotely.
Laying obstacles in the open exposes sappers to Russian drones and artillery, so moving the task to a machine takes a soldier out of the kill zone. The vehicle carries a sloped frame holding a heavy coil of wire and unrolls the barrier on its own while the operator drives it from a safe distance.
Ukraine’s Ground Forces have shown a ground robotic vehicle laying wire obstacles in open terrain. Source: The 16th Separate Support Brigade
“Laying obstacles in open terrain always means risks for combat engineers. But today this hard work is done by ground drones,” the Ground Forces said.
Ukraine’s Ground Forces have shown a ground robotic vehicle laying wire obstacles in open terrain. Source: The 16th Separate Support Brigade
From supply runs to combat engineering, one machine at a time
The wire-laying robot is one of many jobs in a fast-growing fleet. Ukraine’s ground robots ran more than 100,000 missions in the first eight months of 2026, with monthly runs logged in the Delta system climbing from 7,511 in January to nearly 20,000 in July. Kyiv has contracted over 22,000 of the machines since January, nearly double the total for all of 2025.
The number of units operating them grew from 117 at the end of 2025 to 230 by mid-2026, and those machines already haul supplies, evacuate wounded and carry out strikes.
From laying wire to leading the assault
Robots are increasingly going where the fighting is hardest. For the first time in the war, Ukraine air-dropped kamikaze ground robots more than 10 kilometers behind Russian lines from heavy drones during Operation Vivaldi near Lyman, a counteroffensive in which the 3rd Army Corps retook more than 125 square kilometers of Donetsk Oblast.
“In assault operations, drones and ground robots always go ahead of the infantry,” corps commander Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi said. In another Vivaldi tactic, ground robots each fitted with two Bullspike grenade launchers attacked Russian positions and then detonated inside their shelters.
This year, Ukraine’s Defense Procurement Agency began tendering logistics and strike ground robots against Defense Ministry specifications, with no manufacturer allowed more than half the order.
As Texas Republicans grow more nervous about their chances of keeping a U.S. Senate seat in November, they are now facing another political burden: members of the Bush family.
Former President George W. Bush’s daughter Barbara and his brother Neil have broken with their family’s political party in the high-stakes race to support Democratic nominee James Talarico, adding to Republican anxiety about the contest.
The Federal Election Commission’s most recent report on PAC donations lists Barbara Bush as donating $2,500 last month to Lone Star Rising, a political action committee in support of Talarico, who is facing Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the midterm elections. Her monetary support emphasizes larger fractures within the Republican Party, which had hoped for an overwhelming victory in the state. (Barbara Bush, who lives in Brooklyn, is registered to vote in New York.)
On Tuesday, in another Bush defection, the former president’s brother said on Facebook that he had cast his vote for Talarico in early voting.
“I have never posted a political message on Facebook not wanting to offend friends whose views may be very different than mine. I’m breaking that tradition because I voted early today, and I voted for James Talarico for the United States Senate,” Neil Bush wrote in a lengthy post. “My vote was motivated by two things: deep concern about Ken Paxton’s record and genuine admiration for the character and principles I see in James Talarico.”
Paxton was endorsed by President Donald Trump during the Texas GOP primary over incumbent Sen. John Corbyn. But he is facing a candidate who has intertwined his Christian faith with his campaign and whose focus on kitchen-table issues has resonated with voters facing econmic headwinds. The Democrat has a slight lead in polling, 48.8% to 46%.
Neil Bush, who calls himself a longtime Republican, said he has been “deeply troubled” by Paxton’s history as Texas attorney general. He cited Paxton’s decision to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, for which he was investigated by the state, and his impeachment by his own party over misconduct allegations in 2023. Paxton was also indicted in 2015 on charges of securities fraud. His legal team reached a deal for him to take ethics classes, pay almost $270,000 in restitution and complete community service.
In his statement, Neil Bush also took aim at Trump for doing “enormous damage to the Republican Party.”
He said he was “enormously impressed” by Talarico.
“He speaks with respect, seeks common ground, and seems genuinely interested in bringing people together rather than driving them apart,” he said. “His faith appears to be a deeply rooted source of humility, compassion, and conviction rather than a political weapon.”
He added, “I still believe deeply in many traditional Republican principles. But character matters more than party affiliation. Our democracy depends on leaders who respect our institutions, tell the truth, accept accountability, and seek to unite rather than divide.”
Paxton has been a divisive figure within his party. His impeachment attorney, Dan Cogdell, and his former law enforcement director, David Maxwell, have also said they will vote for Talarico.
Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan and Carla Gugino are also featured in the latest look at David Fincher's follow-up to 2019's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.'
Dozens of Israeli fighter jets flew near the border of Iran on Monday, according to a report from Axios, a move that may have been meant to provoke an Iranian attack. The report, which cited unnamed US and Israeli officials, said that the Israeli warplanes flew through Syrian and Iraqi airspace, following a flight path […]
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